Sally will meet you at your level with either introductory work or advanced problems. She combines her extensive experience of HRD dogs, physical fitness, and deployments with her understanding of the science to move you K9 work forward. We cover blinds, multiple hides in various environments including buried, vehicles and shoreline. Focus is meeting you at your level and creating a great learning environment and developing trainer skills.  This is a fun seminar, meant to challenge you and your dog.  

If desired, certifications will be offered for an additional fee.  Make sure to coordinate with Robin.

Registration will be limited to 10 working spots and six audits.

Cost: $600 for a working spot (1 dog/handler); $350 for an audit: $50 for an additional dog

Includes lodging, field lunches, dinners, and a t-shirt.

Assistant Instructors: Sally Dickinson & Robin Greubel

Prereqs:

1) Must have current core shot records in line with AHAA

A follow up email will include:

1) Specifics about logistics (airport, hotels, camping)

2) Required waivers and attendee policies. This must be completed prior to your participation in the training.

About Sally Dickinson

I grew up with working Border Collies on a sheep farm in Northern England and was greatly influenced by my father who volunteered for many years with the Mountain Rescue team. After moving to the USA and settling in Northern Ohio I joined the local Fire and Rescue department in 1997, trained my first search canine and began my public safety career along with studying pre-veterinary medicine at Kent State. Animal medicine quickly morphed into human paramedicine as my firefighting career advanced to a large municipal department.

As a wilderness and USAR canine handler I was interested in the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of developing behavior that would hold up in challenging environments. I competed the KPA Professional Dog Trainer program and the University of Washington Animal Behavior program, which really began my love of applied animal behavior. As with many working canines, I eventually had a dog with a significant injury, the rehabilitation from which sparked my interest in Canine Fitness and Conditioning, so my next educational experience was with the University of Tennessee to complete the Certified Canine Fitness Trainer program.

The idea of a firefighter as a tactical athlete was really taking shape in big departments, but it was obvious that there was more to fitness than lifting weights. Being able to regulate breathing, have increased flexibility, body awareness and control were also critical.  To explore this dimension of fitness I completed a 200-hour first responder yoga teacher training program. Finally, I had a mechanism to not only increase physical strength and conditioning, but also a tool to combat the significant physical and mental stress that the job created.

Until this time my firefighting / paramedicine career and my canine handling / training career had been on two-parallel tracks. It became evident that there was an opportunity to combine many of the concepts I had learned. There was little research available looking at ways to develop a dog’s resilience to environmental and psychological stress in a systematic and targeted way, using physical fitness conditioning and arousal control training. Combining the science of behavior modification, emotional control, breathing control and physical fitness is the focus of my PhD research at Virginia Tech, in the School of Animal Sciences.

“To work a dog well you must know the science, the theory, the training methodology. But you also need to let your hair down and figure out a way to dance in time with the dog in front of you. It is a beautiful thing when a team finds their rhythm and masters the dance.” Sally D